


Saving Students

by MirrorandImage



Category: RWBY
Genre: Fall Maiden - Freeform, Gen, Missions Gone Wrong, Oz is OP, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:48:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25942366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MirrorandImage/pseuds/MirrorandImage
Summary: [Complete] Ozpin, stretched thin, sends team STRQ on a mission. Three days later he gets a call for an evac, and he decides to go himself.
Relationships: Ozpin & Team STRQ
Comments: 5
Kudos: 42





	Saving Students

" _You_ lost _her?_ "

"To be clear," Ozpin quietly told the head of Shade, "She has gone off the grid."

" _Why was she even allowed outside of the campus?_ "

Ozpin pursed his lips, crossing his legs under the desk. "She wasn't a _prisoner_ ," he said.

" _You_ can't _be serious._ "

"I'm going to send my best team to collect her. You needn't worry."

" _Needn't_ worry _? Ozpin, you sent most of your teachers to help with the Faunus protests in Mistral and Atlas. Stupid Faunus protests! You might be the next incarnation, but there isn't a lot of_ Oz _in you._ "

The call ended, and Ozpin sighed, rubbing his forehead. Thirty-two and still considered a child. Not enough _Oz_. What did they expect?

But the headmaster wasn't wrong, either. Ozpin, _Oz_ , knew the Faunus grievances - he hadn't liked the idea of giving them Menagerie all those years ago - it would only exacerbate the feeling of isolation and othering the Faunus suffered, but it was the only way to settle all parties involved. He could still remember his Faunus retainer, one of his most trusted of that life's inner circle, the curl of his ram's horns, and the _grateful_ look that he had a safe place for his people. He could still remember one of his recent lives - the engineer who raised Atlas - be killed not by Salem but for being considered a Faunus-lover. He wanted those protests to go _well_ , he wanted the Faunus to know that Hunters, at least, could be counted on to be fair.

But the new air ships weren't yet fast enough, they couldn't fly from one continent to the other fast enough for him to send a team, and he was forced to select from his pool of students.

Not enough _Oz_.

He sighed.

* * *

Team STRQ. Third-years. _Trouble makers_. But their skill set was diverse, their adaptability off the charts - and after forcing teams to dorm together to work out their problems - their coordination was finally starting to improve. Led by Summer Rose, a shining light of positivity and energy, warm as her namesake, the fastest of the group and skilled at using her mobility and her long-range capacity to control the zone of a fight. Taiyang Xiao Long: close quarters fighter, quick to change strategy as necessary, adaptable and desperate to prove himself next to his powerhouse teammates. Raven Branwen: shrewd and cunning, aloof and guarded, her long sword gave her excellent mid and long range capacities. Qrow Branwen: the proverbial loose cannon, reckless with his body and his fighting and unequivocally the heavy hitter once he was pointed in the right direction.

Their only drawback was their ability to work together, and great strides had been made the previous year when Ozpin had been forced to ban them from the Vytal Festival because of their inability to work together. That meeting with the four of them had hurt - not just them but him as well, as he crushed their hopes in order to teach them a lesson. This year they started almost quiet - no pranks or mission disasters for the first three months, and for now they were the best he had.

Sending students out for a mission that required seasoned adults… worse, people who didn't know about the Maidens… He couldn't go himself - he couldn't leave Beacon double vulnerable, even though it _was_ , in fact, his fault that he'd let Autumn go. Her wanderlust was legendary, wanting to use her gifts to help everyone, and who was he to deny her the choice to help others? He had let her go on missions and journeys to help her, and Autumn had told him…

Well, perhaps it didn't matter now.

The mission board pinged, STRQ had seen the assignment and signed up for it. He messaged them to see him immediately, and in the span of twenty minutes they were in front of him. Miss Branwen of course had her arms crossed, guarded in all things, while Miss Rose was giving her best determined frown, Mr. Xiao Long standing with his hands on his hips, eyes wide and waiting. Mr. Branwen looked around, always a little confused when he was called up to his office.

"I wanted to be sure that you four understood the gravity of this mission," he said, standing in front of his desk, hands behind his back. "Miss Autumn Gold is one of the best hunters in the academy. For her to drop off the grid like this is uncharacteristic and deeply troubling. I cannot imagine the kind of danger she might be in, and I must be forthright: I did not want to send students on this assignment."

"But…?" Miss Rose prompted.

"But, the Faunus protests elsewhere also need attention, and air transportation cannot trade one team for another fast enough to assuage my concerns."

"In other words, we're all you've got," Miss Branwen said, voice sour.

"To be clear," Ozpin said, "You are the best team I have." Miss Rose and Mr. Branwen double blinked in perfect unison, surprised at the praise, and Mr. Xiao Long had a grin that split his face. "Your talents and your prowess on the field are beyond reproach, your skillset is diverse enough that you should be able to handle whatever Miss Gold requires when you find her."

"I hear another 'but' in there," Miss Branwen said, eyes narrow.

Ozpin turned and looked out his window at the overcast sky. "... be careful," he said, turning back to the team. "Stay on your guard. Dismissed."

He could hear, as they were leaving, "He's not telling us something."

* * *

The team departed for Autumn's last known location, and for seventy two hours Ozpin was certain he did not sleep. He paced his office up and down, constantly looking at his messages for notifications from STRQ. Miss Rose gave a report every evening at sunset: Autumn had moved up the mountain to find a missing caravan. The caravan was found but destroyed. Then they, too, went silent for forty hours, and Ozpin held his breath. If he had to call Shade again…

Then, a ping on his phone at three a.m.

_Professor Ozpin, we found Autumn Gold. She was fighting an unknown Grimm. We joined the fight. We're pinned in a cave and need an evac. Here's our location._

… Not enough _Oz_ in you…

Ozpin took a breath, and he arranged a transport.

There was no way the ship could land at their location - airships were still new technology, only able to lift off from flat places like the village they had initially dropped off at. Ozpin studied the maps on the flight. He'd traveled this mountain, lifetimes ago, and he wondered if some of the old game trails were still viable.

He launched from the ship after giving orders for them to wait in the village, using his semblance as a landing strategy and managing to land two miles out from the cave. The hike took just under an hour, and he came up to the destroyed clearing he had seen on the way down. The fight had been brutal, deep muddy gouges ripped through the earth, trees shattered and snapped, and beyond was the cave Miss Rose had mentioned in her message.

Mr. Xiao Long was there, one arm bound to his body and waving as he crested another downed tree.

"Professor?!" he said, surprised. "You came yourself?"

Ozpin didn't reply to his student, moving past and bending into the hollow of the cave. "Miss Gold?" he asked.

"Over here," Miss Rose said, crouched by - oh, Autumn. "She's been in and out of it."

"I understand," Ozpin said in clipped tones, kneeling down and pulling off his pack. "Check on your team," he added, silently asking for some privacy. She nodded and moved closer to the mouth of the cave.

"Oz…"

"Autumn," he said, leaning in. "I'm here. I brought some medicine."

She smiled. "Too late… for that."

"Nonsense," he said, pulling out salves and bandages. "We'll have you patched up and right as rain for when your aura is recharged."

A bloody hand reached out and grabbed his. He looked at her, and she gave another smile, blood leaking from her mouth. She shook her head. "I wanted to say… thank you," she said.

Ozpin shook his head. "No," he said, "Autumn, this is my fault. I should have kept you where you were safe."

"We both know… how that… would have gone," she replied, giving a soft laugh that dissolved into a wet cough. "I liked you better… than the last one… You're gentle…" She coughed again, and there was nothing Ozpin could do. He took her hand and held it in both of his, leaning in, trying to give her a warm smile as the last thing she would see.

"You were very kind to a new headmaster," he said softly.

She smiled, and her eyes started to glaze. "Amber," she said, "I wanted… I'm so sorry..."

"Sh," he said. "I'll look after her, like she was my own."

"I know… tell her…"

But she passed, and Ozpin lowered his head, fighting to hold in his emotion. Once he could control himself, he reached over and closed her eyes. "You deserved so much better than this," he said softly, straightening. He took a deep, shuddering breath, and he turned to see STRQ in a loose semicircle around him and Amber.

* * *

Qrow watched as the headmaster took a moment, closing Gold's eyes and allowing himself to mourn, however briefly, before straightening and turning to the team. He could see his sister staring at him, suspicious of just about everything when this garbage-fire of a mission had started, and now that the headmaster himself came for the evac… Qrow had his questions, too.

The guy pushed his tinted glasses up with a hand stained with Gold's blood and he took a breath. "I'm sorry," he said, voice always soft. "What are the current conditions?"

"You mean aside from the fact that you sent us out here on a suicide mission?" Raven demanded.

The headmaster threw a gaze at Raven, and for a guy barely older than them he looked old. He bypassed the question, instead asking: "Are there injuries?"

"Hey," Raven started to say, but Summer touched her arm, shook her head.

"The Grimm is still out there," she said. "We barely made a dent in it. Autumn… she was the one to drive it off with her semblance. It was amazing, but the damage had already been done. Tai's hands are almost ruined, and I bruised a couple of ribs. My aura's healing it, but it's still a while before I can fight."

"I understand," Ozpin said, "Let me see." He motioned for the things he had pulled out of his pack, a utilitarian but well made backpack that was in stark contradiction to his three-piece that he was wearing halfway up a mountain on the cusp of winter. Qrow made a face at that, but Tai moved forward.

"I'm sorry, Professor," he said, the blond's eyes down. "It was my fault. The Grimm was diving in and I couldn't block it - it broke my aura in one hit and then Autumn…"

"Did what any trained Huntress would do," Ozpin said, tugging the wrapped knuckles and examining the damage. "There is no fault to be had here but mine. Ah, I have a salve for that. Here…" he pulled out a bottle of something, shaking out some kind of green goop and slathering it liberally on Tai's hand. Qrow's friend moaned on contact, and his shoulders relaxed.

The headmaster moved with quick and efficient hands, Qrow hadn't seen someone treat injuries like that since the tribe, and he threw a glance at Raven. She noticed it, too. For a guy who was the youngest headmaster ever, he worked like he had at least a decade's worth of experience. Qrow was curious, but Raven was suspicious like she was in everything outside the team. That he'd pushed off answering her only made her more anxious, and Qrow knew there was going to be a fight.

After treating Tai the headmaster moved to Summer as she lifted her shirt for inspection. Ozpin hummed, fingers proding, but Summer didn't even wince, meaning his hands were gentle.

"This was treated excellently," he said. "Who bound you?"

"Raven followed Tai's directions. He always got the highest scores in Field Medicine."

"Both of you are to be commended," he said, "There's little I can do beyond prescribing rest."

"Fat load of good that will do with that Grimm still out there," Raven said even as the headmaster placed a hand on Summer's shoulder for encouragement before standing.

The headmaster turned slightly to better face the team. "I studied the maps flying up here," he said. "Unless there are game trails here the fastest way to get to an evac is to backtrack to the village you were initially dropped off. I've told the airship to wait there for our arrival. Does this contradict anything you have seen, being on the field?"

"Sounds about right," Qrow said, "Except for that Grimm."

"What kind of Grimm was it?" the headmaster asked.

" _Big_ ," Tai said. "Like half the size of the mountain big. Like it could wrap around the clock tower big."

"Like we never saw something that big, big," Summer added.

The headmaster didn't even seem to react, simply nodded and rubbed a finger along his chin. "And old dragon then," he murmured.

"You know what that is?" Raven demanded.

Ozpin looked up. "Less knowledge, more assumption," he said. "Dragon Grimm are rare indeed. One hasn't been seen since before the great war. They are old, and they are powerful."

"What, that's it?" Raven demanded. "One of your hangers on disappears, you send half trained students on a suicide mission to retrieve her, and that's all we get?" She stepped forward. "What the hell is going on here? You act like none of this is a surprise! What the hell were you expecting when you sent us out here? What the hell kind of semblance did that lady even have that she could throw her weight around like she did in the fight? Why the hell was she out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"Raven," Summer said. "Not now."

" _Yes_ now," Raven grunted, her red eyes fierce, glaring at the headmaster. "You're not going to order us around until you explain what the hell this is all about."

"Miss Branwen-"

"No. No sidestepping, no glossing, no putting off. You are - for once - going to tell us straight up what this all is, or none of us are leaving."

" _Raven_ ," Tai said, standing. "That's enough."

" _Tai_ ," she retorted.

"Both of you," Summer said, standing to her full (short) height. "He just lost a friend!"

Qrow snapped his eyes to the professor, and he saw them staring at nothing, brown eyes locked on something none of them could see, his frown an effigy of sadness. But he took a breath and adjusted his glasses.

"Autumn Gold," he said, and Qrow and the others froze, hearing the lecture tone. "Autumn Gold was not a hanger on the way you imply it, Miss Branwen. In some respects I was a hanger on to her. She had sympathy for a twenty-five year old as he stepped into his role as headmaster. She is… was… one of the most powerful Huntresses Vale had ever seen, and she had many duties, including one to Beacon specifically. Her heart could not be bound to one location, however, and as headmaster I saw no reason to deny her the chance to help more than just the people of Vale. Yes, I worried when she disappeared, yes, I worried sending all of you. I believe I said as much when I sent you out here."

"But you knew something deeper was going on," Raven accused, and Qrow rubbed his forehead. She was like a dog with a bone, sometimes.

"Knowing and suspecting are two different things," Ozpin said, breathing through his nose. "For now that's all I can give on the matter. In the meantime we have two injured parties and a long trek down the mountain and a Grimm that may or may not seek us out now that Autumn-" he closed his eyes, and Qrow could sense more than see him hold in a grimace of pain. Summer saw it, too, and stepped in front of Raven.

"What's the plan?" she asked.

Raven was glaring, and she turned and stalked out of the cave. Qrow… didn't follow her.

Ozpin pulled out something from his pocket and with a flick of the wrist it extended to a cane. He leaned on it briefly, Qrow could see an iron grip as he closed his eyes and thought.

"Not knowing if the Grimm will return or not," he said, "I don't want to put you all in further risk than necessary. I would propose two teams: the injured, Mr. Xiao Long and Miss Rose, stay here with Miss Branwen to act as cover if necessary. Mr. Branwen and I will scout our way down the mountain to the base where the village lies. We can message you via scrolls when we arrive, and Miss Branwen can use her semblance to get you there without the dangers of travel."

Qrow pursed his lips. The plan wasn't bad except that _he_ was the one going with the headmaster, and that meant his _semblance_ was going, too. He saw Summer and Tai glancing, they knew it, too.

The headmaster saw the glances. "Have I missed a detail?" he asked carefully.

"No, no!" Summer said quickly, Tai shaking his head in agreement, and Qrow loved them for covering - nobody outside of Raven had ever covered for him before he met them - and he held his breath. Maybe he could get it under control this time. Maybe the headmaster wouldn't notice. Maybe… who was he kidding?

"Very well then," Ozpin said. "Let me leave you some travel rations and see to our defenses, and then Qrow and I will depart."

* * *

Getting into Beacon required - on top of a fighting performance that he and Raven had both laughed at - filling out a form giving information: name, home, kin, combat school, semblance, and so on. They had both agreed that if anyone knew Qrow's semblance they would be denied entry. He had left it blank while Raven admitted hers, and crossed their fingers. Since then Qrow had taken pains to try and hide it, but Tai and Summer had figured it out before the end of first year, and they both agreed to cover for him.

Now he was about to go on a multi-day excursion with the _headmaster_ and somehow hide the misfortune he brought to everyone.

Fat chance of that happening. His luck was _bad_ , after all.

"You sure you want me to be the one going with you?" Qrow asked. It was as close to an admission as he was going to get after the headmaster was done treating Summer and Tai, giving them rations, enforcing that they be careful, and giving Raven a respectful nod as he motioned they set out.

"Of course," he said, an echo of his normally bright voice drifting over the cold air. "Is there a reason I wouldn't?"

Qrow made a face, unwilling to bring it up. He saw the headmaster look down, a face normally associated with "disappointed," and the guy took a breath through his nose.

"Mr. Branwen, is there something I should know?"

" _No_ ," Qrow said quickly.

"Are you certain? Given the situation we are in, the journey we are about to take, is there some information you feel that I should know?"

How did he do that? Qrow grit his teeth. "Positive," he said. "Let's get going."

He patently ignored the disappointed sigh.

Admittedly, the first leg was quiet, in half a mile they arrived at the fight, all the icy earth and talon gauges and knocked over trees. Ozpin nimbly - cane or not - climbed up one of the ruined trees to survey the grounds, and Qrow waited at the base. The headmaster hopped down and gave him a look. "It was hard fighting," he said. "Your team should be commended. Will be commended, when we get back."

Qrow snorted. "Commended for letting the girl die?" he asked. "Fat chance of that."

"For surviving a dragon," the headmaster corrected, toeing through the half frozen mud in his expensive shoes.

"You don't even know it was a dragon."

"Long enough to wrap around the clock tower? Leathery wings like a bat instead of a bird? Talons as big as a two hundred year old tree? It was a dragon."

"You can tell all that by looking at some scorched earth?"

"Among other things," Ozpin said, clearing the line of the fight and heading into the trees, Qrow following. "There is of course documentation of dragon grimm, sketches and pictures, first hand accounts. Memories."

"Memories?"

He turned and gave a polite smile - the one Raven said was the most dishonest - "Aren't all books a form of memory?" he asked lightly. With his head turned he missed a patch of ice and had one food slide out from underneath him, leaving his arms to pinwheel for several seconds before landing flat on his ass. Qrow might have laughed if they were on campus, but instead he bit his lip and tried to focus on his semblance. This was the last thing they needed.

Ozpin didn't say anything, getting up and dusting off. "My fault," he said brightly. "I should watch where I'm going. Imagine the impression of a headmaster slipping on some ice. I would never live it down, I think." He turned and smiled. "I'm lucky you're here," he said with a smile, "I can trust you not to tell anyone?"

Qrow worked his jaw. It was like the guy was _trying_ to get him to admit his semblance or something. And damn it all if he wasn't wrong about Qrow not snitching about the gaff. The minute the professor said "trust" Qrow was bound to do what he said, because outside of STRQ no one had ever given him trust before except for this guy, and Qrow didn't want to break it - even for the tribe. Guy had him wrapped around his finger the first day of school, catching him walking around in a kilt because of Tai's brilliant idea of a prank. Right now it rankled, and Qrow tried to push ahead - only to slip himself.

"Damn it," he cursed.

"It's quite alright," Ozpin said, offering a hand. Qrow brushed it off. "Better to get the bad luck out of the way now, right? Before the dragon reappears."

"You got a funny idea about luck if you think bad luck is a thing that can be used up," Qrow said, bitter.

"Oh?" he asked, face a little too innocent to believe. "Do you know something about luck that I don't?"

Qrow growled. "I'm not gonna play your game, _Oz_ ," he spat, shortening the name to add a fleck of disrespect on top of dropping the title of professor. "If you got something to say just spit it out."

The headmaster was staring at him, wide eyed. He blinked twice before recovering, and he sighed. "Forgive me," he said. "I'm pushing, and you're not ready."

Qrow scoffed. "There you go again, thinking you know everything."

An academic snort. "Oh, I assure you, as much as I know, I know how much I _don't_ know."

"There you go again, playing at being mysterious. This is why Raven doesn't trust you, you know."

Bland smiled. "Miss Branwen doesn't trust me? I would never have guessed."

Qrow rolled his eyes at the sarcasm, and they moved through the woods in a period of silence. Qrow and the others had gotten pretty far off the trail when they saw the "dragon" and the pillar of whatever Gold's semblance was. The headmaster wasn't kidding to say she was a powerful Huntress - she did stuff with her semblance that couldn't be described or explained, it was like she had control over air, fire, there was a glow to her eyes and a power in her strikes that none of them had ever seen before. Qrow had marveled - they all had - before leaping into the fray. _Gods_ that fight had been a hot garbage fire - five hunters - one of them apparently a legend - and none of them were enough.

The image of Gold, stretched out in the cave and babbling about fairy tales and headmasters… "She wanted to see you," he said, turning slightly to let his voice carry. "The huntress. She wanted to tell you, well. She got her chance."

Ozpin nodded, holding something in his hand and turning slightly. "She was one of the best," he said softly. "She had no reason to be so kind to me, none of them did, but she accepted me as if I were family."

Qrow turned more fully, pausing in his walk to hear the detail. "She adopt you or something?" he asked.

The headmaster looked up from his hand. He smiled again - not the polite one, this one was softer, warmer. "I suppose that's true from a certain point of view. What a pleasant sentiment. Thank you."

The honesty of the gratitude made Qrow flush - he _really_ wasn't used to people being nice to him. It had taken over two years to get used to Tai and Summer… the professor… they barely talked but he just handed out stuff like that so readily. Raven didn't trust it, but Qrow found he _craved_ it, and he couldn't say why.

"We should be going more northerly, we're starting to veer east."

Qrow craned his neck and realized that the headmaster had an old fashioned compass. "You know there's an app for that on the scrolls, right?" he asked.

"Scrolls are not always reliable this far from the tower," the headmaster said. "And I've always been a little old fashioned, I suppose. This way."

Qrow shrugged and followed. By sunset they'd made good time, and Ozpin messaged the pilot waiting for them while Qrow messaged his team to tell them where they were. Raven had more than a few things to say about Ozpin, but Summer and Tai reinforced that the headmaster had just lost a close friend and to be gentle - as if it were possible for Qrow to be gentle. He looked up from the chat and saw the guy had somehow climbed up a tree, fifteen feet high and was slowly turning his head to serveille the area before lightly hopping down.

"I will take first watch," he said softly. "You need rest far more than I do. I'll wake you at midnight and we can set out just before dawn."

"You don't think the grimm will show up?"

"I have suspicions, but for now that's all I have. I'd rather not worry you unnecessarily."

Qrow narrowed his gaze. "I'd rather be worried than in the dark," he said.

Ozpin, too, narrowed his gaze, his lips pursing out of his bland smile and into a slight frown. He took a measured breath through his nose. "Trust, Mr. Branwen, must go both ways. I have made an effort to place my trust in you since you have arrived at Beacon, but there will be times - like now - that I, too, would like to be trusted. If you are not there yet, I understand, but there are some things that I share with precious few people."

He did it again: he made a boundary, and he silently asked Qrow if he would respect it or not. Qrow only saw the headmaster personally three or four times in his time at Beacon, but every time there was some kind of conversation about trust and boundaries, and every time Ozpin managed to make Qrow see a little more. Now, for example, he was forced to reflect on the fact that the headmaster had given him several moments of trust and not once asked for that trust in turn. Now he was, and Qrow was left struggling with himself on whether or not to… just… _give_ trust to the headmaster. Tai, Summer, they had earned it, bit by bit, year after year. Losing the chance at the Vytal Festival had _killed_ them, but they did it for _him_ , and Qrow knew he could trust them with anything.

Oz… He hadn't interacted with him enough to know. He wasn't sure where to start, how to get him to earn it.

"How-" he started to ask but cut himself off immediately. Unfortunately, the headmaster heard him and he turned slightly.

"Yes?"

Qrow let himself think for all of two seconds before he dived in headfirst like he did with everything else. "What's a guy do to earn your trust?" he asked.

Ozpin considered the question, touching his chin. "I suppose there are several ways," he said finally. "But I've always found that giving trust is perhaps the best way to earn trust."

By that logic the headmaster had been handing out all the trust to Qrow specifically to _gain_ his trust. Give and take relationship - except Ozpin only did giving and never took. Until now - and he wasn't even taking, he was _asking_. Somewhere, deep in Qrow's head, that made all the difference.

"Odds are the Grimm is gonna find us," he admitted, slouching forward and looking away. "That's my luck."

There was a very pregnant pause, but the fancy shoes - now caked in mud and muck from the mountain - entered his line of sight and Ozpin crouched down, gazing at him with his whiskey eyes. He didn't say anything, just looked, almost like he was giving Qrow an out. He almost took it, almost decided not to say anything else, but he somehow felt _less_ for Ozpin handing out his trust and Qrow not giving it in turn. He squirmed with the conflict, but he finally opened his mouth.

"My semblance," he said, looking down. "It's to bring misfortune. I'm a bad luck charm."

The silence drew out; Qrow was expecting disbelief, incredulity, anger, but there was nothing but silence. Well, Qrow hadn't yet out-waited Ozpin, and he looked up.

The headmaster _smiled_. Wide and warm and proud and so many things Qrow had never seen before but also instantaneously _needed_.

"Thank you," he said softly. "Thank you for sharing that with me. I worried you never would."

Qrow blinked. Wait… "You _knew_?"

"Yes."

"Since _when_?"

"Since Miss Rose's and Mr. Xiao Long's reports started to conspicuously miss details they normally reported."

"That's… that's practically the whole time!" Qrow said, indignant. "Why didn't you say anything?"

His response was a casual shrug. "Because I wanted you to trust me enough to tell me. My figuring it out seemed somehow akin to cheating, and I didn't want you to bear me ill will when you are still so quick to snap judgements and anger."

Qrow bit out a vulgar curse as he slowly became overwhelmed - first that Ozpin had allowed him the secret for so long when the tribe would have dragged him out and beat him for keeping something to himself - second for the idea of _waiting_ for someone to _volunteer_ a weakness like that - third for the fact that he _fell for it all_. Gods… "You are the most backwards guy I know," Qrow accused. "I just told you I'm a bad luck charm - I'm gonna somehow find a way to drag that dragon back here - and now there'll be two hunters instead of five - and you just… Why are you like this?"

Polite smile, the one that couldn't be trusted, but this time there was an edge in the eyes, a crease that said… something. "Because I'm old," he said simply.

"Hell, you're not _that_ old. You look it with the cane and the hair but you're not…" Qrow frowned. "How old are you?"

"Thirty-two."

"Yeah, not old."

"Then I suppose I just feel old," he said. "Some days I feel as old as the wizard from the fairy tale of the _Four Maidens_."

Qrow shook his head. "Point still stands. Why are you okay with me being here?"

Ozpin smiled again, softer, more honest, but also sadder. "Because, Mr. Branwen, if there is anyone in all of Remnant who has worse luck than you, it's me." He got up.

Hell. "Two bad luck semblances next to each other?" Qrow demanded, straightening up. "How are we not dead yet?"

"My luck has nothing to do with my semblance, Mr. Branwen," Ozpin said, moving back to his watch post. "My luck has everything to do with my curse."

"What the hell does _that_ mean?"

"Sleep, Qrow. Let's see if the dragon shows first before I divulge all my secrets."

* * *

Qrow did not wake at midnight to take his shift. He woke at dawn, and when he processed that information he quickly looked around to find the headmaster. He was up in the tree again, blanket from his pack wrapped around his shoulders and leaning precariously to one side. Qrow debated darting up the tree to check on him, or if his semblance would somehow make the guy fall fifteen feet to the ground as an alarm. He settled for a compromise, calling up: "You awake up there?"

"Of course, I'll be right down."

The guy just… let the lean take him, tipping over the branch and then twisting tightly in the air to land on his feet, blanket off and already half folded.

"Woah."

"You needn't be so impressed, Mr. Branwen," Ozpin said. "Any of you could do the same with a bit of practice."

"But why would we?"

"Efficiency. Have you had morning rations yet?"

"No."

"Then you might want something now. I was able to climb higher, I could see the village we are heading towards. If we are very, very lucky, we can make it by dark, and then we can contact your sister and have everyone on the airship and on our way home."

Qrow studied the headmaster, the heavy droop of his eyes, the tightness around his mouth. "Did you sleep last night?"

Polite smile: "As much as mourning would allow," he said softly, and Qrow was forced to remember again that this guy had been close to the person they'd been sent to find, and she was dead. He looked down, unsure what he was supposed to do or say. He tried to picture Summer, or Tai, how they would act.

"You… you holding up alright?" he asked.

"Very well, all things considered. Come, if the dragon wishes to renew its assault, it will do so today."

"Will it? Come back I mean?" Qrow asked, relieved to be talking about something else. "Like, without my semblance?"

The headmaster frowned, adjusting his tinted glasses, and looked up to the sky. "That would depend on how old the dragon is - and since it's a dragon it is _very_ old indeed. The question we must ask is: why did it attack in the first place? I have two guesses on that part, and both suggest that its work was done as soon as Ms. Gold was dispatched. There is a third option, and that is the one I dread."

Qrow snorted. "Just our luck, then," he muttered.

"Well," the headmaster said, "If the worst case scenario happens, then better that it come after us than your teammates up the mountain with their injuries. In that respect, Mr. Branwen, your semblance is a boon."

… what?

Qrow was left to mull over that for the first three hours of the trek, his brain staggering slightly at how thoroughly the professor took things into consideration in order to make a plan. The guy had left Raven with the injured as protection and transportation, but he had deliberately picked Qrow not just because he was uninjured but _also_ because he was keeping his bad luck semblance away front the injured _and_ to make sure they were unharmed if the dragon came back _and_ because he could mysteriously handle any bad luck thrown at him since he was _apparently cursed_. That was, like, four different layers to think about - and Qrow knew on a level he couldn't describe that the guy thought on more than four layers. It was no wonder Raven had zero trust for the guy, their version of a "deep game" was probably checkers for this guy. Did this mean he knew about the tribe? Was he throwing all that trust at Qrow so he could switch sides? Or was he after something else? Qrow couldn't figure it.

At the same time, he knew asking was going to get that polite smile and a boundary if he tried to ask about it. Qrow was still struggling with that - he'd learned a _lot_ about boundaries from Tai and Summer, things the tribe had never taught him, things he and Raven took for granted. Qrow couldn't say he was _good_ at boundaries yet, but he had learned in the last two years that sometimes crossing boundaries led to punishment that hurt more than just him. He'd never meant to hurt Tai so bad, he'd never meant to cost them the Vytal Festival, and he'd swore he wouldn't do it again.

Did he want to cross that boundary with the headmaster?

… he didn't. And he couldn't figure out why. Raven was going to kill him.

"You're very pensive, Mr. Branwen," the headmaster said, looking at his ancient compass. "I've heard often enough that you are rarely this quiet in class. Might I ask as to the cause?"

Qrow pursed his lips. "Pressure of the mission I guess."

"Don't worry, Mr. Branwen, if the dragon should reappear I'll protect you."

He rolled his eyes. "That's not-wait, what?"

The headmaster turned around again, surrounded by the shadow of trees and the overcast sky above them. His hair was more grey than white in this light, and his whiskey eyes were slightly confused as he repeated himself: "If the dragon should reappear I'll protect you."

Qrow stared. "Why would you protect me?" he demanded.

And now the headmaster stared. "Because you're my student," he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Qrow shook his head. "I don't get you," he said. "You sent us out to pick up your friend and we _fail_ , she's _dead_ but you still go and say you'll protect a useless _bad luck charm_ _like me_ like I have the same value as that Autumn Gold girl. You make this plan in the span of like two seconds and it accounts for all the shit that happens to me and keeps everyone else safe and you just… just… _stand there_ , calm as you please, knowing that dragon is going to come back because I'm here but still saying you'll look out for me even though _I'm the reason Gold is dead!_ " He was yelling now, he knew it, but too much was going on in his brain and he wasn't used to this: he wasn't used to _kindness_.

The headmaster let him yell, the polite smile long gone, and he stepped forward, placing a gloved hand on Qrow's arm.

"Mr. Branwen," he said. " _Qrow_. People all have value. _You_ have value. You are worth just as much to me as Autumn, and losing you would be a tragedy."

"That's _bullshit_ ," Qrow hissed. "That _bullshit_ and you know it! You were going to send the best Hunters in Vale after Gold but they were all off the continent. You _told_ us we were your best and we _still fucked up_. We failed the mission - we're supposed to be _punished_ for that. I should be stuck in a stockade for half the shit I do but you just laugh and thank me for keeping people on their toes and that's _not what's supposed to happen_. I should be beaten in an inch of my life to keep me in line and instead we're about to be attacked by some stupid mega-Grimm and you say you're going to _protect_ me? You don't make sense!"

The professor had that look in his eye again, the one that was sad and disappointed and hurt all in one face. He took a measured breath through his nose, the one where he was putting a sentence together in his head, but the ground trembled and there was a low moan in the air.

Grimm.

Both of them snapped up to the trees, climbing to clear the line and get a view. Qrow recognized the red, leathery wings, the elongated skull, the shuddering sense of danger.

"So you _were_ trying to lure me out," Ozpin muttered. "Mr. Branwen! Launch me up to the dragon with that scythe of yours, and then handle any Grimm that it spawns!"

"What the hell? You think you can take that thing _alone_?"

"I _think_ we don't have time for an argument!"

Qrow _growled_ , lowering himself to a thicker branch for stability and getting a spin going. Ozpin landed on the scythe and they built up three spins of centrifugal force, Qrow firing his weapon five times, and then Ozpin _launched_ , as if he were light as a feather, making an elegant arc up through the air, hitting his apex, as the dragon opened its mouth to roar. Ozpin reached out and grabbed a tooth, and the battle was joined.

Three blobs splattered out of the Grimm, and Qrow darted through the trees to get where they landed, putting his scythe to a sword and taking a flying leap to land blade first on the first Grimm that emerged from the pool. New Grimm were the most aggressive, but also the stupidest and the easiest to kill off. They'd learned from the last time that one pool could generate at least five or six Grimm depending on the size - three droplets equated to eighteen Grimm for Qrow to suddenly take care of, and as he was fighting he realized that Ozpin was trusting him with a hefty number. Guy really thought he could handle it, and in spite of it all Qrow grinned, baring his teeth as his inner conflict fell away to the fight.

Of course there were more sprays, once Qrow was done with one there was another and then another and then _another_. He glanced up when he was running from one blob to the next, but the trees blocked his vision, but he could hear the roars and the shrieks, and Qrow wondered what the headmaster was doing up there.

He saw a red portal on his way to one of the splatters, saw Raven and Summer move through.

"What's going on? What do you need?"

"That Oz guy is taking that dragon on by himself. I'm on splatter duty."

"Arrogant bastard, I'll give him that," Raven muttered.

"How's Tai?"

"Better, but his aura's working overtime to try and fix his arm," Summer said. "He's still out of the fight."

"Okay," Qrow said, throwing his scythe at a Grimm trying to exit its pool. "Who's on clean up and who's up there with the show-off?"

He and Summer shared a look. "Not Raven," they said in unison.

"Hey!"

"Don't worry," Summer said brightly. I've got it!"

"Have fun!"

His sister glared at him. "I could have gone up there."

"Yeah," Qrow said, swinging his scythe before switching it back to a sword. "But you would have been fighting him as much as the dragon up there."

"I would _not!_ "

Qrow laughed, and he launched himself at the next splatter from the dragon.

* * *

She always had a sense of timing, Salem.

Ozpin dread to hear what happened to the Faunus protests in Atlas and Mistral - he knew she must have orchestrated some kind of disaster to keep his people busy, then isolate poor, _poor_ Autumn and lure him out and away from Beacon. Would there be a Grimm attack, a test of his defenses - or would she slip agents in to search for the Vault. None of the options were optimal, and Ozpin _hated himself_ for falling for the lure and for dragging STRQ into this mess. Only a dragon was old enough to remember magic, its scent and its touch, and everything would have been _fine_ to send a normal team for evac, but _no_ , he had to worry for his students - and in doing so he put them in even _more danger and what good was he_?

Not enough _Oz_. The line still cut through him, and now he understood how deficient he was in this incarnation, why the other headmasters looked down their noses at him, incarnation or not. The next decade was going to be bureaucratic _hell_ for this, proving himself all over again before they could take him seriously - and all this was assuming Salem didn't find a way to the Vault.

And poor Amber… She was still so young, and now bereft of Autumn… Fria would be so disappointed with him.

The dragon Grimm launched him up into the air, and he twisted around to reorient himself before angling his body to dive again. The dragon knew how to fight a group, but it did not know how to fight one small fly, how to swat it away, and Ozpin only needed the right angle, the right velocity, to get to its weak point and end it. This was not his first dragon, though it had been several incarnations indeed since he had met one. He reached out and grabbed the bony horn at the tip of its beak, spinning around once, twice, before letting go and letting gravity drag him further up the skull to the eye where he activated his semblance for more control, slowing the world around him until he was level to where he wanted, and with his cane he _thrust_.

The dragon shrieked, feeling the pain, and twisted it's head. Ozpin held on for life, looking for the right angle to let himself fly, and then he did, just as the wings made a downward thrust, and the updraft flew him higher still, and he twisted, repeating his mode of attack. The dragon understood what was happening but not how, it hadn't yet figured out the physics of its beating wings or it throwing its head kept giving Ozpin an advantage. This dragon did not have arms, only wings and taloned feet, so long as Ozpin was out of the range of those, this was an easy fight.

This time he landed on the back - less than ideal but still workable. He gripped one of its vertebrae, arching out in a curve, and looked for another orifice. Finding none, he looked up to see which way he was flying, and let the wind take him again.

"Professor!"

What?

Ozpin looked around, spinning with less control to see who that- _Miss Rose?_ Her trajectory intersected with his and his angle of descent was changed. He would land nowhere near the dragon now…!

Miss Rose gripped him hard, and there was a flurry of petals before they were both on a branch. The lack of screaming wind brought deafening silence, and he was left staring at his pupil.

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

"Helping you!" she said brightly. "Your cane doesn't have any recoil control, you were flying all helter-skelter. With me up there you can have some control in the air now."

He stared, equal parts touched that she thought he needed help and frustrated that he had been interrupted. He took several seconds to breathe, to pull himself out of the battle mindset and back into a headmaster's: reminding himself that his students needed him to be in control, and he had to be a leader, and he had to tell them what to do. Oh, he couldn't explain the creature was drawn to his magic, what could he say in the interim? He couldn't talk about Salem, or the Maidens, or how all of this disaster had happened because _there wasn't enough Oz in him_. He took a deep breath, looked at his student's silver eyes.

"Miss Rose," he said carefully. "Unless you are going to tell me that you are, indeed, a silver-eyed warrior of old, all I require of you is to launch me back up into the air so that I may continue my work. I know how to defeat a dragon, it is a game of patience and awareness, both of which I submit that I have in abundance, now _please_."

"Professor, you have a _cane_ ," she said in retaliation. "You have no control up there in the air unless you have some kind of recoil."

Honestly-! "Rest assured," he said, "Having no recoil has not stopped me before, nor will it stop me now. I am a Hunter, first and foremost, and I _will_ protect my students from unnecessary risk."

And then she hugged him. It was sudden and unexpected, and Ozpin froze as she squeezed around his chest and looked up with a smile.

"You're sweet, professor," she said, soft and warm. "But we're Hunters, too." She withdrew and energetically clenched her fists. "Okay, let's get back up there!"

Ozpin took another breath, slowly, through his nose, and he nodded.

* * *

Watching Ozpin fight was a thing of beauty, Qrow decided as he looked up. The dragon hadn't shed any droplets of Grimm-pools for several minutes, too distracted by the show the headmaster was putting on. For a guy with a shoddy cane and no recoil he had complete control in the air - spinning and twisting so he always landed back on the dragon and always seeming to know when to let go so that he could arch up and do it again. Qrow knew for a fact that he would have to use four cartridges of ammo to match what this guy was doing with _nothing_. Raven was agape, too, silent as they watched him thrust his cane, spin around, and then launch up to get enough gravitational pull to do it again. Qrow occasionally saw greenish after-images, probably his semblance, but even that didn't account for how well this guy could maneuver.

Summer up there was barely two hits in but Ozpin - by Qrow's count - had landed almost a dozen, not including however much he'd done when he and Raven were still handling the splatter pools.

"Should we go up there?" he asked, "Join the fun?"

Raven scoffed. "You would."

Qrow smirked. "Then you have fun. Say hi to Tai for us." And then he switched his weapon and ran up a tree, giving momentum to his recoil and launching up into the air. It took four shots to get the height he needed, and with a spin he was able to land on the back of the dragon and embed his scythe into its back, right above a shoulder blade. It shrieked and started to spin in the air, and Qrow was hard pressed to stay on its back as it shuddered. Summer was there, getting a grip on him and shouting direction and both of them were back up in the air, using the recoil to angle themselves.

From there Qrow had the perfect view to see Ozpin spin into a nosedive and barrel headfirst towards the dragon, reaching out and grabbing a talon of its leathery wing and use it to swing up and to the creature's skull - missing the eye by precious feet but managing to thrust into something else - a nostril, and the dragon gave another great shriek - and for a split second its form was paralyzed in its pain. The headmaster looked up. "Now!" he shouted.

"Qrow!" Summer signaled.

He shifted his scythe to a gun and fired at the leathery wings, blasting two holes in its span, Summer doing the same on the other wing. The Grimm didn't like that and whipped its head from side to side - how the _hell_ was the headmaster able to hold on? Qrow recoiled his way over to give him a hand, but the professor launched again, so instead Qrow switched his angle slightly, spinning so he could get his sword into the dragon's eye. Braced against the handle, he gave a toothy grin as he saw everything line up perfectly.

"Mr. Branwen! _Qrow! Stop!_ "

Qrow looked up, saw the headmaster diving for him just as the dragon twitched it's head out of the way, pulling back and then swinging forward, it's bony beak too thick to damage and not only blunting Qrow's attack but also pitching him backward. He spun wildly, seeing that giant leathery wing heading right for him and he was desperately looking for a way to recoil his way out of this - one hit from that thing shattered Tai's aura-!

The talon connected, and Qrow felt two breaks, first to his aura and then to his arm that had tried instinctively to brace, and he was flying in the opposite direction, dazed, trying to figure out which way was up. The horizon kept spinning around and he couldn't get his bearings, a fall like this was going to _kill_ him and he had to get his bearings…!

White hair crossed his vision, and he felt something wrap around him and then there were trees, hundreds of tiny impacts reducing velocity until he recognized he was reaching for the ground, and something softened his fall. His broken arm jarred in the impact, and he rolled to his side to curl into it, adrenaline leaving him a shaking mess.

"Mr. Branwen? Qrow? Can you hear me?"

He looked up and saw the professor, messy hair completely askew from the aerial battle, tinted glasses missing, windswept and kind of beautiful. Qrow groaned, shifting up gingerly into a sitting position. "... fuck my luck," he muttered, holding his arm.

"Don't worry," the headmaster said. "Your sister will be here shortly. Stay here and rest."

"What…?"

But he was already gone, running up a tree as the dragon moaned above them.

"Qrow!"

"Raven!"

His sister dashed forward, skidding to a halt and kneeling down to him. "That was damn stupid!" she growled, a sign of her worry. "Where's the professor?"

"Back upstairs," Qrow said, grunting as she started to touch his broken arm.

Raven stared. "Are you _serious_?" she demanded.

"Why? What?"

"Didn't you see when he grabbed you? He broke his aura getting you to ground safely!"

Qrow stared. Then his eyes snapped back up to the sky.

* * *

Ozpin cleared the treeline, out of breath and out of aura. Miss Rose was doing an admirable job at keeping the beast at bay, bless her, but it was past time they put this dragon back to sleep. Destroying it would give Salem more information that he wanted to give, annoying it was not driving it away, so sleep it would have to be. He closed his eyes, reaching inside himself to touch his magic. The dragon sensed him, flew in a tight arc and made straight for him. He could see Miss Rose, trying to catch up as he slowly funneled magic into the Long Memory. The dragon opened its mouth to screech, and Ozpin took a deep breath, running along a branch and leaping up into the air, into its mouth. He must have looked quite the sight, but once he was on its tongue he flailed briefly to get caught in a tooth, jabbing his cane into the roof of its mouth and casting the magic. _Sleep_. _Sleep. Sleep_.

The creature bucked and howled, spinning around to try and jostle him loose, but he forced himself to stay, eyes closed and channeling his magic, emptying himself and forcing the creature to be dormant. He heard a high pitched cry, not the dragon but something human. He ignored it until he felt the spell take root.

Only then did he let go, letting gravity embrace him as he watched, seeing the creature fly away, suddenly urged to go back to its roost. Perfect. Disaster was averted. He sighed in relief and spun around, exhausted, seeing the trees rapidly approach him and he at terminal velocity. This was going to hurt…

But Miss Rose was there, a flurry of petals, slowing their descent until they were at last on the ground.

" _I thought that thing had eaten you!_ " she cried out, her tiny frame shuddering, silver eyes brimming with tears. She hugged him, wrapping her arms tightly around him and sobbing into his chest. He blinked, marveled, really, that someone had worried about him, and he gingerly put an arm around her shoulder, squeezing.

"I'm sorry," he said gently. "I needed to be inside its mouth to end the fight."

" _Oz!_ "

Ozpin startled at the name, turning and seeing the Branwen twins moving in, Qrow wild-eyed. " _What the hell is wrong with you?_ " he demanded. "Jumping back in there with no aura and _leaping into its mouth_ like that?!"

"No aura?" Summer squeaked into his chest, looking up at him. "You just did that with _no aura?_ "

Ozpin blinked. "... yes?"

"And people call _me_ reckless!" Mr. Branwen shouted, his voice slightly strangled. "Why the hell are you just a headmaster instead of, like, the master of Remnant or something? Nobody else could do what you just did! And with no recoil!"

"Is that what it means to be a Hunter?" Miss Branwen demanded. "Are we all going to be capable of that when we're done with your damn school?"

Ozpin was a little overwhelmed with the questions, out of breath and _utterly exhausted_ from using up his aura and then his magic. He tried to keep track of the comments, the unhindered _awe_ of his students and struggling to understand how he had so impressed them. "Any headmaster could do that," he answered. Probably. Maybe. He'd have to check… "Are all of you alright?"

"Alright?" Mr. Branwen said, voice a little too loud as he held his arm carefully. "You do all the heavy lifting and ask if we're _alright_?"

"Yes, your arm," Ozpin said, pulling gently out of Miss Rose's hug. "I thought you might have injured it when the wing-"

Mr. Branwen grumbled, looking down. "Broke my aura, same as Tai," he muttered.

"Tai!" Miss Rose said, clapping her hands to her mouth. "We can bring him here now that the Grimm is gone. Don't worry professor, we already took care of Miss Gold, and Tai's good arm can carry her. Here, Raven, make a portal."

The Branwen sister rolled her red eyes, pulling out her sword and slashing it. Miss Rose disappeared to the cave halfway up the mountain.

A little more composed, Ozpin pulled off his pack to pull out his medical kit. "Here," he said, "let's have a look at that arm." His mind was starting to work again, turning to the realization he had earlier: this had been a lure, a way to spread his forces and leave Beacon bereft of defenses. He felt the urge to get back, to check the Vault, to see if the Faunus protests had gone well or not. Salem had already dealt a serious blow with the loss of Autumn, and he was wary that there was more ahead. He treated his student's injury with practiced hands, seeing Mr. Branwen watch with curious, wine colored eyes. Miss Branwen watched, arms crossed and for once blessedly silent on her suspicions and accusations.

"... you mean to tell me the one bouncing all around that dragon was the _professor_?"

"Yeah! It was amazing! He did all of that with no recoil! He even jumped into its _mouth_!"

" _Are you serious?_ " Mr. Xiao Long exited the portal, several packs and one precious wrapping spread out along his back and good shoulder. He was all bright smiles. "Professor, I saw the fight from the cave - that was amazing!"

"It was the work of a Hunter," he corrected, straightening from setting Mr. Branwen's arm. "Any of you would do the same to protect those around you."

"See? I told you he was humble!"

"Well, now that the way is clear, let's get down to the village, then," Mr. Xiao Long said. "I for one want to get home to a hot shower."

"Want some company?"

" _No_ , Qrow, I do _not_."

"I wasn't talking about _me_."

"Qrow, finish that thought and _I will end you_."

"Raven, get over yourself, you know you wanna."

"Qrow, you're right, I see her blushing!"

"I am _not_ blushing."

"If Summer says you are, then you are."

" _Shut up_ , Tai."

They all laughed, and Ozpin allowed himself a breath of relief. He took Autumn from Mr. Xiao Long and pulled out his compass. It would be well after dark when they returned, assuming they pushed, and Ozpin wanted to push - exhausted or not - he had to get back to Beacon and see what had happened. STRQ fanned out in standard formation, chittering back and forth about the fight and the awe and amazement, pleasant background noise as Ozpin slowly lost himself in his thoughts, already hours ahead.

They ate and walked at the same time, pushing. Miss Rose took over as point, Miss Branwen taking the rear as Mr. Xiao Long and Mr. Branwen kept to the middle as the injured. Ozpin lingered with them, guard in case something went wrong. Autumn hung heavy on him - literally and figuratively - as the weight balanced across his shoulders. The world slowly fell away, shrinking to one plodding foot after another as everything got heavier and heavier: The current leader of the White Fang was young and new, a fresh face and no one knew what Belladonna was going to be like - if there was a fight his hunters would be forced to act as peacekeepers, and he had hoped instead they would be allies, defending the faunus from rabble rousers instead of whatever disaster he was imagining. Then, too there was the staff and students. Salem had tried more than once to infiltrate his schools, either with teachers or students, and it would take days to dig through the data and see if there was anyone he needed to watch for. More, still, there was security around the Vault. He felt some security that the relic was safe but he didn't like the idea of the Vault unguarded like it was now. He pursed his lips, rifling through one possibility after the next, plodding one foot in front of the other.

* * *

Qrow and everyone else was relieved to get to the village and see the airship. It was well after dark - the sun had set two hours ago but they were all so close and nobody wanted to stop. The adrenaline of the morning fight had long since faded and everyone was in a silent haze. The headmaster barely said four words once they started walking again, Qrow would glance over and see how tired he looked - on top of not sleeping the prior night _and_ breaking his aura (for Qrow's sake, which he was still struggling to come to terms with) _and_ carrying Gold's body it was a small miracle he was still walking. Qrow exchanged more than one glance with Tai on the track, and he saw it, too. So did Summer, she kept looking back.

The pilot had to be woken up, Ozpin very quietly insisting they return home _this instant_ with the body bag over his shoulder. The pilot rushed to start up the engine, and Ozpin quietly, reverently, stretched out Gold's body, kneeling there for several minutes to give her honors, before sitting down and strapping in. The headmaster reached into a pocket to retrieve his tinted glasses to put back on, and then he pulled out his scroll. It was broken, cracked from the fight that morning. Sighing, he leaned his chin on the pommel of his cane and his whisky eyes were so dark as to be almost black.

Summer leaned in. "I think the loss is really starting to hit him," she whispered.

Qrow nodded. Carrying a body back that far would do that.

"I'm a little surprised he's still awake," Tai murmured, joining in. "I can barely keep my eyes open after that hike, and I wasn't part of the fight."

"Same here," Qrow muttered. "All I want to do is collapse into bed."

"It'll be at least midnight by the time we get back," Raven said, arms crossed. "Might as well settle in."

They all eventually passed out. Qrow struggled to stay awake, he had things he wanted to say to the headmaster - he had no idea what, but something was churning in the back of his head, and he knew he had to get it out - but even he drifted off.

The landing woke them, and the headmaster stood, swaying on his feet for a moment before finding the energy somewhere to right himself. "I'll see you to the infirmary," he said softly, "and notify the nurse on call. Fill out your reports, and then report to me when…" His eyes lost focus for a second, and all of them exchanged worried glances, knowing how tired he was. "... Report to me tomorrow afternoon," he said finally, threading a finger behind his glasses to rub at an eye. "We'll talk more then."

He stepped out of the airship, Qrow could see his legs were a little wobbly, but he had perfect posture as he escorted them to the infirmary like he said, opening a keypad in the elevator inputting a code. When they got there one of the nurses was shrugging on a sweater to take them in, and Qrow turned slightly, watching the headmaster talk briefly with the nurse before beelining back to the elevator. Just as the doors were closing Qrow thought he saw the guy's shoulders slump, an admission of weakness when no one was watching.

They all slept like the dead once they were treated and clean, all of them waking up around noon, missing classes and leaving Summer in an absolute tizzy as she messaged all their teachers explaining the situation. Then were the reports, all of them huddled together in the library and comparing notes and checking each other to make sure it was all consistent.

It was in the library that word finally bled to them: there had been a Faunus riot in Mistral two days prior. Qrow and Raven shared a look, knowing what the city was like. At least twelve were dead, possibly more, numbers were still sketchy.

"Didn't some of the professors go there?" Summer asked, silver eyes wide.

"That's a little too convenient for my liking," Raven said, scrolling through the feed. "Right when we're looking for the headmaster's friend, with a dragon Grimm? This stinks of a set-up."

"But _why_?" Tai asked. "Who would want to set up Professor Ozpin? He's, like, the nicest guy here - and the best fighter anywhere. I looked up his Vytal Festival videos - he had complete control in the air even when he was our age."

"But he's only one man," Summer said, red eyes deep in thought. Qrow and the others exchanged glances, but they finished their reports and headed up to the headmaster's office at four o'clock.

"Yes… Yes…" the elevator dinged and the headmaster was obviously on the phone, back turned to the Qrow and the others. They entered but didn't travel deep into the office, hoping to give him a semblance of privacy. "No… _no_. Theo, honestly. Leonardo is already giving his statement, you can see it on the news… Yes I _know_ what this means… That doesn't change… Yes. Yes. I understand. I have students coming, we can resume this conversation at a later date."

The chair spun around and Qrow gulped to see the headmaster, the others did, too. He was still in his clothes from yesterday, mud spattered and rumpled, hair vaguely in place after what Qrow could only assume was several attempts at running his hand through the grimy mess. If his eyes were tired last night they were absolutely _haggard_ now, he looked like a stiff breeze could knock him over.

"Should we come back later, professor?" Summer asked quickly.

Ozpin blinked at them, Qrow could almost see how slow his brain was working, before he leaned back in his chair and got up, swaying for a moment before moving around his desk to stand formally in front of them.

"What the hell, sit down before you fall down," Qrow said, a little shocked that the statement came out of his mouth. Raven openly gaped at him and Tai gave him a wide-eyed look. The headmaster blinked, twice, before he smiled and leaned against his desk.

"Forgive me," he said, voice soft. "I must look like something a beowulf dragged in."

"Did you even sleep?" Tai asked, before quickly adding, "Sir?"

Polite smile. "Rest assured," he said kindly, "I fully intend to crash shortly."

It was a bold-faced lie and Qrow knew it. So did Raven. Still, they gave their reports, explaining their search for Autumn Gold and what happened after, the dragon Grimm finding them and the fight that ensued. Ozpin listened, but Qrow could tell it was with half an ear, his eyes were too far away, thinking too much but at too slow a pace. Silence stretched out when Summer finished, the headmaster just staring off into space before he shook himself out of it.

"More than anything else," he said, his words softer than usual. Quieter. "I wanted to say thank you. Miss Branwen was quite correct that the mission I assigned you was more dangerous than it looked at first glance. I had suspicions but did not put it together until too late, and you four were put in danger as a result. For that I'm sorry. In spite of that, you all conducted yourselves admirably: you were able to find Miss Gold and help her, you drove back a dragon to call for evac, and you all played a role in getting us back to the airship. Any teacher here would be impressed with what you've accomplished, and with how much you've grown since your first year here. I have high hopes for you all in the Vytal Festival next year. Dismissed."

"Wait, that's it?"

" _Raven_ ," Tai and Summer said at the same time.

"You send us on what amounts to a suicide mission - a mission where one of your followers winds up dead-" Ozpin flinched "-and riots break out where the other teachers are and all we get is a shallow 'thanks for the hard work'? We're owed an explanation."

Qrow and the others held their breath, looking up to the headmaster, and he stared at them, owlish blink that was too slow to be healthy.

"Tell me," he said suddenly. "What's your favorite fairy tale?"

… what?

"What the hell kind of question is that?" Raven demanded.

Ozpin shook his head, and if it wasn't for leaning against his desk Qrow was pretty sure he was going to just keel over. "Another time, Miss Branwen," he said. "When I am better able to give you the answers you need."

"You can't just-"

" _Raven_ ," Qrow said, and she turned to glare at him, because he never stopped her from shaking out a truth before, but in this Qrow felt right. It wasn't fair to badger a guy who had just risked his own life to save theirs. Raven wouldn't do this to Tai, or Summer, or even him, it wasn't fair to do it to the headmaster. Not when he'd just lost a friend and maybe even a few teachers, not when he was so tired he could collapse at any moment. Ozpin left himself vulnerable to Qrow, because he trusted Qrow not to take advantage, and Qrow wasn't going to betray that trust. Not his first year, and not now.

Three to one odds, and Raven was forced to back down. They left, and as the elevator closed, Qrow and Summer kept their eyes on the headmaster until the last, saw him leaning against his desk, and at the last second he put a hand up to his face and his shoulders shook. They shared a look, and something akin to mutual understanding passed between them: both of them knowing that Ozpin was going through a hard time, both of them knowing he was trying his best, and both of them knowing that somehow, some way, they were going to help him.

**Author's Note:**

> Otherwise entitled: can the twins please have a fic where Oz is overtly OP? But in order for that to happen we needed the stakes appropriately big and that meant Salem and the Maidens and everything just kinda... fell in place.
> 
> We wanted to show that Salem probably did a lot before the Vytal Festival debacle in the series, and given what Cinder does to obtain Fall's power it made sense that it wasn't Salem's first assault on a maiden. Qrow and Oz continue bonding because we just can't turn that off in our heads, we get to explore what Raven and Summer might have been like as students and Tai is woefully underutilized because we needed to establish how hard it was to fight a dragon - the Fall Maiden and STRQ weren't enough, but Oz does it all almost entirely on his own.
> 
> Also some Oz angst - if Ironwood would undermine his position in the Vytal Festival so easily there theoretically would have been some big screw ups in Oz's tenure, and this could be one of them. Well, that and we kind of can't help needling him.
> 
> Does Amber have a last name in the show? Ah, well, she does now.


End file.
